This is usually the trend: misinformed criticism of leftist activism or culture result in high-profile strawman arguments in popular media, which activists take great glee in tearing down. Real issues go unsolved, and both left and right further cement themselves into ironclad camps.

Men’s crew takes down Cal, but women’s team falls short

No. 7 Stanford men’s rowing upset No. 3 Cal in the Big Row on Saturday, hoisting the Schwabacher Cup for just the second time in 23 seasons.

The Stanford varsity eight (above) upset Cal Saturday to take the Schwabacher Cup for the first time since 2008 and the second time in 23 years. (MICHAEL PIMENTEL/StanfordPhoto.com)

“Today we witnessed a tremendous team effort,” Stanford head coach Craig Amerkhanian told GoStanford.com. “Stanford men’s crew stood side by side and battled Cal from start to finish. As coach, I was proud of the effort, speed and conviction.”

The Cardinal clocked a 5:31.2 in the varsity eight race, edging out the Golden Bears by 1.5 seconds, a margin of approximately one boat length. Though the varsity eight victory was all Stanford needed to take the Big Row, the Cardinal was easily defeated by its cross-bay rival in the two events that were held earlier in the day. The Bears topped Stanford in the second varsity eight by over ten seconds—5:45.4 to 5:55.9—and produced a one-two sweep in the freshman eight.

On the women’s side, Cal dominated from top to bottom.

The 10th-ranked Cardinal lost all four races against the second-ranked Bears, failing to capture the Lambert cup for the fourth consecutive season.

In the varsity eight, Cal finished six seconds ahead of Stanford with a blistering time of 6:14.7—a new Redwood Shores course record. The Bears also defeated the Cardinal in the second varsity eight by fewer than five seconds, though Stanford was in the lead up to the 1,000-meter mark.

“Cal earned the day today and gave us a good gauge for where we are at this moment,” Stanford head coach Yasmin Farooq told GoStanford.com.

The teams now turn their focus to the Pac-12 Championships held at Gold River, Calif., on May 19.

About George Chen

George Chen is a senior staff writer at The Stanford Daily who writes football, football and more football. Previously he worked at The Daily as the President and Editor in Chief, Executive Editor, Managing Editor of Sports, the football beat reporter and a sports desk editor. George also co-authored The Daily's recent book documenting the rise of Stanford football, "Rags to Roses." He is a senior from Painted Post, NY majoring in Biology. To contact him, please email at gchen15@stanford.edu.

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